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SkySQL Builds MySQL Reference Architecture

Deploying a MySQL database today to meet modern infrastructure demands isn't as easy as it used to be.

In an effort to help enterprises deploy the open source database, MySQL services vendor SkySQL is launching a new MySQL reference architecture that includes services and components. A decade ago, MySQL was typically deployed as part of the LAMP (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP) stack, but that's not enough anymore.

"Scalability and high availability have moved a long way since, as have monitoring requirements," Kaj Arno, executive vice president of products at SkySQL, told InternetNews.com. "Applications which were homemade ten years ago, CRM, CMS, etc., are today available as components. And the cloud aspects of the MySQL environment have only evolved in the last few years."

Arno said the SkySQL Reference Architecture is delivered to SkySQL end customers in the form of a web service. Core open source software components of the Reference Architecture are delivered for free, whereas closed source components and services will require a commercial relationship.

"The reference architecture is a best of breed collection, not the loosely fitting collection of disparate solutions that many production environments end up in, for mere historical reasons," Arno said. "MySQL is today being deployed together with proper high availability solutions, replication, and appropriate scalability and monitoring."

In order to help SkySQL customers deploy the Reference Architecture, there is a new open source SkySQL provisioning tool.

"SkySQL Provisioning of open source comments is available at no cost for community users and the SkySQL Reference Architecture is open for new open source components," Arno said However, none of these two aspects really qualify SkySQL Provisioning as an open source project, it's a combination of projects that already exist."

According to Arno, the underlying OS for the provisioning web service is irrelevant. That said, the actual list of operating systems that SkySQL provisions for today is CentOS and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. He added that the list will grow over time.

Oracle, which continues to lead the MySQL open source project and its related commercial efforts, is not part the SkySQL ecosystem of partners for the Reference Architecture.

"Oracle is in a way present in the form of their GPL version of MySQL, which is supported," Arno said. "For that, we don't need a commercial relationship and frankly, we do trust our own expertise in MySQL matters."

Arno stressed that the new provisioning tool is still just a prototype.

"We'll implement the full functionality in the coming weeks and months," Arno said. "And in addition to extending the functionality of the provisioning system, we'll fine tune the fit between the components of the architecture, and will consider further component candidates."